August 18, 2022 at 1:35 p.m.
School board votes to cover cost of pay increase for bus drivers
School board votes to cover cost of pay increase for bus drivers
The move came after the owners of the bus service, Jeff and Wendy Bowen, described the struggles they are facing in attracting and retaining drivers.
"Inflation is crazy right now, everybody sees it everywhere, there's also price gouging going on (with) parts and services," Jeff Bowen said. "It's sad but the bottom line is that my costs keep going up and if the dollars don't go up, my employees can go work somewhere else for more money."
"I can't attract good employees without having a higher wage," he added.
Bob Thom, the district's director of business services, explained that the district's operations committee met last week (Aug. 8) and agreed to increase driver pay by $10 per route and increase the hourly trip pay rate for drivers who transport students to and from field trips and/or sporting events from $14.50 to $20 per hour as requested by the bus company.
With the $10 increase per route, the new route pay range will increase from $30-36 to $40-46, according to the contract included with the meeting packet. Thus, a driver who transports students to and from school in both the morning and the afternoon would make between $80-92 per day rather than between $60-72.
Board members had some questions for the bus company representatives but appeared amenable to funding the pay increase to ensure there are enough drivers available when school starts.
"You have to increase wages to get people," said board member Mike Roberts, referencing his own experiences in hiring employees. "I mean all you have to do is look at what the businesses coming into town are paying people right now. If you want to compete with that, (the wage) has to be increased."
Board member David Holperin asked the Bowens for information on the number of drivers lined up to work this fall.
"Do you have a sufficient number of drivers for starting in the fall?" he asked.
"No," Jeff Bowen responded. "We're short. We're working at it, trying hard. We may have to combine a route or two."
"Do you have any reason to believe that the drivers you have won't continue to drive if you don't pay them more?" Holperin asked as a followup.
"That's a loaded question but yes, I think some of them will leave, yes," Bowen replied.
"You can go downtown and get a job for $20 an hour without all of the extra responsibilities," noted Wendy Bowen.
As the discussion continued, Holperin, who is a financial advisor in his "day job", noted that the economic outlook could be very different some months down the road.
"These things tend to go in cycles," he said. "Seven months or eight months from now we could be looking at a different world. We could be looking at people who are very hungry for bus driver jobs."
The discussion ended with the board agreeing to fund the $10 per route increase as well as related FICA (federal payroll tax) costs.
The total cost to the district for the '22-'23 school year to effectuate the bus driver pay increase is $116,262.
According to the contract, Bowen's is required to supply confirming payroll records to show the increase in each driver's pay.
In other business Monday, the board heard a report on the recently completed summer school session.
According to the principals who led the summer school sessions, 353 elementary school students, 160 middle school students and 227 Rhinelander High School students participated in summer school this year.
At the high school level, 93 percent of those who participated "recovered" one or more credit necessary for graduation, associate principal Kari Strebig told the board.
Enrichment activities like weightlifting and band also attracted high school students, Strebig said, adding that 15 students took their required health course over the summer.
At the middle school level, principal Richard Gretzinger said math and reading intervention courses were offered as well as a variety of enrichment activities including a food class, band, mindfulness and rocketry.
The elementary summer school program is now headquartered at the high school which the elementary principals said has been a "game changer".
Among the activities offered at the elementary level were sessions at CAVOC (Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom), swimming lessons, the basics of basketball (Hodag Hoops) and Legos, according to the principals.
Heather Schaefer may be reached at [email protected].
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